USDA lowered Brazilian soybean production by 2 million metric tons (mmt) to 161 mmt (5.9 billion bushels) in one of the few significant changes to crop production numbers. Despite lower production, USDA increased Brazil’s exports 2 mmt to 99.5 mmt.

On Friday, USDA released the World Agricultural Supply & Demand Estimates (WASDE) for December. The report offered few changes to domestic supplies and demand.

Farm Director KC Sheperd spoke with Allendale’s Rich Nelson about this latest report, who said the report was pretty quiet today as USDA often waits until the New Year to make major changes.

Nelson said on the wheat side of things, USDA did lower their stock number by 25 million bushels.

“Keep in mind that China bought over 1 million tons this week," Nelson said. "So reflecting that,now they have stocks at 659. They actually did have some light increases for the non US wheat producers on this on this report, some net increases. So that helped add maybe a little pressure for today’s discussion as far as price action.”



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At the end of this past week, I caught up with News on 6 Meteorologist Travis Meyer at the 2023 Tulsa Farm Show- and we talked about the status of El Niño as we near the end of 2023. Meyer says the El Nino that we are starting to see develop out in the Pacific is what he calls a borderline strong El Nino.

Meyer says that currently- the El Nino we are dealing with is acting pretty normal. He says we are starting to see a line of storms line up out in the Pacific and are rolling in across the United States. He believes that will continue for the time being- and will result in several opportunities for rain and snow as we work our way through the winter season here in the southern plains.

As for the amount of snow that we could be saving in Oklahoma and Kansas this year- Meyer is expecting at least normal and more than likely a higher than normal amount of snow this season.



He’s feeling confident that we will have more chances of precipitation this winter into next spring- which should help continue to push out drought conditions the next several months.

NCBA’s Mark Eisele Emphasizes Desire of Ranchers to Work as a Team with EPA

In this episode of Beef Buzz, I am visiting with the President-Elect of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Mark Eisele, about regulatory battles NCBA has been fighting for ranchers.

“It has been a very busy year, but a very good year,” Eisele said. “We had some wins in Congress, and we are fighting the good fight…”

Regarding regulatory battles NCBA has been fighting such as with the Endangered Species Act, Eisele said a big problem is that the EPA is always in danger of being sued, so sometimes regulations are not in the best interest of farmers and ranchers.

“The places they are finding endangered species and species of concern are on private ground mostly, because people already do a good job taking care of it,” Eisele said.

Turning the page to the new Waters of the U.S. definition, Eisele said NCBA will be keeping an eye on how things progress. Eisele emphasized how a WOTUS rule that is easy for producers to understand, and follow is critical.

Annual Toy Drive, Organized by 4-H’er Reed Marcum, Spreads Holiday Cheer to Families Across Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas.

On Saturday, December 9, the annual 4-H Toy Giveaway organized by Reed Marcum, an 18-year-old 4-H teen from Pittsburg County, Oklahoma, distributed more than 10,000 toys to children and families in need across Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas for the holidays.

Starting at 3:30am, cars lined up for over 3 miles near the Southeast Expo Center in McAlester, OK, where Marcum, flanked by more than 100 volunteers, provided toys, clothing, candy, and holiday cheer to families and community members waiting in the vehicle line. Santa Claus and other recognizable costumed characters also made appearances during the event. 

Marcum launched the annual toy giveaway through Oklahoma 4-H in 2016 – when he was just 11 years old – with a small walk-up event and 1,000 toys donated. Since then, he has worked with his hometown community of McAlester to give away more than 54,000 toys to date – and this year’s giveaway was the largest yet.  

2023 College Aggies Online scholarship winners announced Includes OSU’s Alexis Main

Alexis Main, an Oklahoma State University student, and Les Voyageurs, a Louisiana State University club, took home the top prizes in the Animal Agriculture Alliance’s 2023 College Aggies Online (CAO) scholarship program. Throughout the nine weeks, $20,000 was awarded in scholarships to participating students and clubs.

The 2023 CAO program had 344 registered individuals, the largest participation number in five years. Fourteen collegiate clubs registered and hosted 33 campus and community events, reaching more than 10,000 people and donating 6,440 pounds of food to local pantries.

CAO is an initiative of the Alliance that connects college students, industry experts, and social media-savvy farmers to engage online about current and emerging issues facing the animal agriculture community. Throughout the competition, students learn how to spread positive, factual information about agriculture and tell their personal stories while actively developing their professional communication skills. In the club division, students host farm tours, campus events, food drives, and more to engage with their peers about agriculture.

“This nine-week program is truly amazing for any college student interested in animal agriculture,” said Alexis Main, 2023 first place individual winner. “I have come so far from two years ago with content creation, graphic design, and sharing animal agriculture’s story through this program. If you are a college student or know a college student interested in animal agriculture, this is definitely the program for them and I highly encourage everyone to sign up next fall!”

Agricultural Community to the International Trade Commission: Tariffs on Moroccan Fertilizers Hampering Family Farms

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), along with 57 agriculture organizations including 22 state corn grower groups, urged the U.S. International Trade Commission today to consider the impacts that tariffs on Moroccan shipments of fertilizers are having on family farms.

The concerns were expressed in a letter that comes after the ITC was ordered by the U.S. Court of International Trade to reconsider its determination of material injury in a decision issued earlier in September.

“Rising prices for fertilizer inputs have strained America’s farmers and ranchers and have impacted availability for this critical component of nutrient and yield management,” the letter said. “Without predictable options to source this product, farmers struggle to plan for the future.”

The signatories noted that issues surrounding the international supply chain further complicate farmers’ ability to source phosphate. The letter further explains that the ITC originally made some inferences on the ability to re-ship product that are not indicative of reality.